Public’s Help Requested in Lottery Investigation

Written by Theresa Rose on August 24, 2016

The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Iowa Attorney Generals’ office are seeking the help of the public in connection with the major lottery ticket investigation.

Yesterday, the Iowa Attorney General’s office filed an application for subpoenas related to its investigation into a criminal network alleged to have won fixed lottery jackpots in five states: Colorado, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin. That application requests subpoenas for records related to Luis Vallejo, an attorney located in La Grange, Texas, and J. Thad Whisenant, an attorney located in The Woodlands, Texas.

Anyone with any information about lottery-related actions or lottery-related statements by Vallejo or Whisenant, or any relationship either has with Eddie or Tommy Tipton, is asked to call the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 967-1257.

This ongoing investigation has revealed that within the last ten years, Eddie Tipton, his brother Tommy Tipton, and other acquaintances have purchased and collected winnings through “manual play” lottery tickets. In manual play games the purchaser picks the numbers they wish to play. The winning numbers for these games are generated by random number generator computer programs (RNGs). These RNG computers were built at the Multistate Lottery Association (MUSL) by MUSL staff, including former MUSL employee Eddie Tipton.